Jun 16

The cooperation aims at developing common positions on EU public policy support for e-invoicing, promoting interoperability and rolling out easy-to-use services

The European E-invoicing Service Providers Association (EESPA) and OpenPEPPOL have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperate in supporting the rapid adoption of e-invoicing across Europe. Both associations, together with their respective membership communities, will benefit from closer and deeper levels of cooperation, as they create a new joint force to provide expertise for both public and private sector in developing and accelerating the adoption of e-invoicing.

The EESPA community includes Europe’s leading service providers that provide e-invoicing and supply chain automation solutions to businesses of all sizes, as well as consumers.

OpenPEPPOL brings together a large community of public procurement authorities and many service and solution providers that support the deployment of the PEPPOL specifications in creating a Pan-European network infrastructure to support e-procurement and e-invoicing.

Chair of EESPA Esa Tihilä said: “E-invoicing is easy, quick, secure and environmentally responsible. E-invoicing helps speed up cash flow, which helps smooth out complications and problems in the economy. Innovative industries, businesses and governments are driving the sea-change, and every initiative to implement e-invoicing needs be supported and encouraged. We at EESPA are delighted about the opportunity to cooperate with our OpenPEPPOL colleagues to develop the market for e-invoicing in both Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) areas. There are huge efficiencies to be unlocked and interoperability based on open and close collaboration between all stakeholders will significantly propel the adoption of e-invoicing and these easy-to-use services”.

The MOU identifies a number of areas where the two associations will cooperate including:

Developing common positions on EU public policy support for e-invoicing through the Digital Single Market agenda to ensure that regulation and standards meet market needs and encourage easy and rapid switch to e-invoicing by all stakeholders.

Working together to ensure that the PEPPOL specifications are further developed to even higher levels of functionality and that respective EESPA and PEPPOL frameworks enable high levels of interoperability and end-user satisfaction.

Participating with mutually agreed objectives in standards initiatives relevant to supply chain automation, including the current project to create a European Core Invoice Model, being pursued by CEN Technical Committee 434.

Researching ways in which the two communities could deploy their joint capabilities to serve the broader B2B marketplace.

The MOU was signed at the EESPA General Assembly Meeting in May 2016 in Tallinn, Estonia.

OpenPEPPOL Secretary General, André Hoddevik said:“Use of the PEPPOL eDelivery network and PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specifications (PEPPOL BIS) enables seamless many-to-many interoperability for business-to-government and business-to-business. E-invoicing is today the biggest area of use, and a closer cooperation with e-invoicing service providers organized through EESPA is important for the continued growth of the PEPPOL network and further development of the PEPPOL specifications. The two associations have been cooperating for some time, and I see the MoU as an important platform for continued cooperation and further development of our relationship”.

EESPA was formed in 2011 as an international not-for-profit association to be a strategic asset for its members delivering industry leadership, influence and a framework of support. It acts as a trade association at a European level for a large and dynamic community of e-invoicing service providers, drawn from organizations that provide network, business outsourcing, financial, technology, and EDI (electronic data interchange) services. With its current over 60 full and associate members, EESPA focuses on public policy issues, the creation of an interoperable eco-system and championing the widespread adoption of e-invoicing for the benefit of economic efficiency and growth.

About OpenPEPPOL:

The OpenPEPPOL Association was established in 2012 after successful completion of the Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) project which saw PEPPOL specifications being implemented in several European countries solving interoperability issues for electronic procurement. The association is responsible for the governance and maintenance of the PEPPOL specifications that enable European businesses to easily deal electronically with any European public sector buyer in their procurement processes. Membership is open to public and private organisations interested in the adoption of standardised e-Procurement solutions and EU-wide connectivity.